Igniter



H.WSUMNER.

IGNITER.4

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14| I9I9.

:I IIlll v] f1/vento@ He/y IV. Saw-:17er atto/cum, i

UNITED STATES HENRY` W. SUMNER, 0F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

IGNITER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led July 14, 1 919. Serial No. 310,821.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY W. SUMNER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at' Seattle, in the county of King 'and State of Washington, have invented a new and useful Improvement in .Igniters, of which tlie following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in' igniters for internal combustion engines of the type that are adapted to burn relatively heavy fuel oils and the object of this improvement isto provide an electric igniter that will not be cooled below an eiiicient ignition temperature when a spray of fuel is directed thereonto.

In heavy oil burning engines where igniters of this type are used and where a spray of liquid fuel is delivered directly onto the igniter, the fuel tends to cool the igniter below the temperature that is best suited for eicient ignition thereby causing ignition troubles with a consequent fouling of the en ine and loss of power.

overcome this difficulty by providing an igniter having an igniter coil or element that is protected by a shield or cage which becomes heated by the heat from the coil and'which is arranged to intercept a spray of 1i uid fuel and heat and vaporize such fuel be ore it comes in contact with the igniter coil.

The igniter coil and the protective cage may be of various different forms so long as the cage is constructed and arranged so that it will be heated by the heat from the igniter coil and will intercept and Avaporize fuel before such fuel ispermitted to come in contact with the igniter coil.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a view partly in mid section and partly in elevation of an ,igniter constructed in accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a view in cross section of the same substantially on a broken line 2, 2 ofFig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of a coil of wire embodied in the invention, the base of insulating material with which the coil is connected being shown in cross section andV Fig. 4 is a designates a substantially'cylindrical igniter casmg that is adaptedto project lthrough the wall o-f a c linder 6 and to be rigidly secured to such cy inder in any well known manner'. The inner end of the igniterv casing 5 is concentrically bored to form a cylindrical recess for two disks 7 and 8 of insulating material which are held in position by two bolts 9 and 10 that extend lengthwise through passa eways 11 and 12 in the igniter casing and t rough an inserted block or disk 13 of insulating material at the outer end of such casing. The disk 7 is provided with 'recesses 14 for the heads 15 of the bolts 9 and 10 and the disk 8 is perforated to ermit the bolts 9 and 10 to pass therethroug the head 15 of the bolts engagin with the side of the disk 8 when nuts 16 an 17 on the outer ends p such bolts are tightened against the block The -passageways 11 and 12 are of larger diameter than the bolts 9 and 10 so that the bolts are electrically insulated, by surrounding clearance space, from the walls of the igniter casing and the disk 8 and block 13 are preferably provided with dowel pins 18 Patented May 24, 1921.

to prevent them from turnin sufficiently to permit contact between the olts 9 and 10 and the walls of the passagewaysll and 12. The igniter coil or element 20 is formed of high resistance wire doubledand coiled as shown, the two ends of the coil being connected with the respective heads of the bolts 9 and 10 preferably by inserting such two ends into perforations in the 'heads of the bolts and then flattening the bolt heads sli htly to bind the ends of the wires firmly. he nuts 16 and 17 serve as terminals which may be connected with electric circuit wires so that current mayI flow through the coil 30.

The igniter coil 20 is surrounded by a protective cagey or shield' which may be formed of a wire 21 that is doubled as at 22 and coiled in substantially the manner shown, the two end portions 23 and 24 of the wire being arranged to lie within grooves in diametrically opposite sides of the disks 7 and 8 and the tips of the end portions 23 and 24 being bent inwardly as at 25 and pro'ected into suitable holes in the sides of the isk 8. The wire 2l forming that portion of the cage that surrounds the main body of the igniter coil 20 is preferably bent in substantially the form of a closed coil but in pr'acso that it gives a tapered appearance to the forward end ofthe coil.

The form of shield or cage above described is satisfactory and eflicient Vwhen the igniter is arranged n substantially the relation to a fuel spray nozzle 27, shown in Fig. 4 so that the spray vof fuel from the nozzle does notstrike the ignitercoil 2O dii rect but strikes upon the closely wound -part ofthe cage surrounding the igniter coil. If the relative positions of the fuel nozzle and the igniter are changed the shield or cage for the igniter coil will obviously be constructed and arranged so as `to shield the coil from a direct spray of fuel.

The igniter is quickly and easilyl assembled Vby making the ends of the coil 20l fast to the bolts 9 and 10, then inserting the bolts through the disks 7 and 8, then placing the cage or shield 21 over the coil 20, and then slipping the assembled parts into the housing 5, putting the block 13 in place and screwing on the nuts 16 and 17.

In the operation of this igniter when electric currentl isV admitted, the coil 20 will become red hot and will soon heat the surrounding cage so that when a spray of liquid fuel is directed onto the cage it will be vaporized thereby before it comes in contact with the igniter coil 2O and is ignited.

The cage 21 thus serves to shield the igniter coil .2() from the direct spray of fuel thereby preventing the igniter coil from becoming cooled to such an extent that it is incapable of eilicient ignition.

After the engine has been started and is running normally itvmay be found that the heat from the burning fuel will keep the coils 20 and 21 hot enough for ignition purl poses and that current to the coil 20 may be V shut off.

form of heated igniter element as it will with the coil 20.

It is obvious that changes4 in the form of construction and arrangement of parts of this device may be resorted to within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. Ignition devices including an igniter element arranged to be heated and a shield adapted to be heated by said igniter element and arranged to shield said igniter element from direct contact with a spray of fuel, said shield being capable of being penetrated by a portion of the fuelmixture.

2. Ignition devices comprising an electrically heated igniter element and a shield Asurrounding said igniter element in close proximity thereto, said shield being capable of being penetrated by a'fuel mixture.

3. Ignition devices including an electrically heated lignition coil and a shield formed of iapcoil of wire surrounding said ignition coil, 4 v

4. An igniter comprisin a bod member, an electrically heated igmtion coll projecting from said body member, and a shield formed of a closed coil of wire supported from said body member-and encircling said ignition coil.

5. An igniter comprising a bod member an igniter coil projecting from t e end of said body member, conductor means extending lergthwise through said body member for supplying electric current to said i nivtion coil, and a shield formed of a coi of insulation blocks and throug the passageways in said igniter casing, Said bolts being insulated from said igniter casing and serving as conductors for electric current, an igniter coil having one terminal connected with each of said bolts and a shield formed of a coil of wire that encircles said igniter coil and is supported in insulated relation 

